Photo of the day

Travel to the American Revolution

Share! I haven’t visited any places specifically to learn about the War of Independence, but I have stumbled upon little reminders at a few places. Seeing little bits of the past brings history alive for me. I know I learned…

Share! American history keeps coming to me as I travel in the northeastern United States. I realize that, as a political science major, I learned more about the French and the Russian revolutions than the one had here at home.…

Share! I stand in Mapleshade Cemetery in Ridgefield, Conn. and look at the grave of Corporal William Lee and see that he died in September 1776 while serving during the Revolutionary War. He died at the age of 23 without…

Share! A reminder to observe your world, no matter how close to home you are traveling: How many times do I walk into Rosy Tomorrow’s restaurant in Danbury, Conn. without noticing a sign posted outside? I have multiple opportunities to…

Share! Before France’s Comte de Rochambeau showed up in Newport, the city was under the control of the British during the American Revolution. Trinity Church, an Anglican congregation, was built in 1726 and “was spared . . . humiliation and…

Who Is the Bashful Adventurer?

A telemarketer changed my path. My life was humming along. I was a freelance writer and editor, a single mom, a frequent volunteer, and content. Then I decided to give a random telephone surveyor a break. I agreed to answer a few questions on travel destinations and tourist preferences. When I answered never to “how many times have you been to London?,” the telemarketer’s tone shifted quickly. She was talking to an unworldly woman.

She was right. I’d been to Italy, the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, and plenty of states. I hadn’t trekked through Europe, though, or gone to Asia or visited the Middle East. I was alone, I was a single mom, I was a freelancer. I stopped letting these be excuses and started getting on planes. I became the Bashful Adventurer.

—Lori Tripoli

Around the Planet

Exterior of the Kremlin

Cool in Iceland

Share! The hardest part about traveling to a place none of your friends have been to before is figuring out where to stay. What’s the most desirable part of the city? What provides the best value? How good is the…

Share! People ask what I did on my short trip to Iceland and, in retrospect, it seems not much. I soaked in geothermal pools, watched a meteor shower in the darkness, saw some of the countryside and a bit of…

Share! Of all of the options for a day in Reykjavik, the Brawny Sherpa and I choose to learn more about Vikings. We head to the Settlement Exhibition, more formally named the Settlement Exhibition Reykjavik 871 +/-2. It’s a small…

Share! A bit of snow and a bus getting stuck in a snow bank slow our visit to Iceland’s Geysir, for which all other geysers are named, for about a minute. Icelandic drivers and tour guides know what to do…

Share! When seeking an unknown-to-us restaurant or coffee bar, the Brawny Sherpa and I have a tradition of choosing the second most viable place. This habit comes from too many experiences pulling off a highway exit, easing into the first…

Share! I expect the Northern Lights to highlight my trip to Iceland, but my visit to the Blue Lagoon in Grindavik turns out to be even more heavenly. A geothermal spa, the Blue Lagoon features large pools of 100-degree bluish-white…